HADES (Death Is A Man)

Beware Of Black

AZRAEL

Laid beyond the bowel of the ground was my lair Netherland, the wind whistled in whispers of the doomed souls trap within its brimstones.

I moved with the whistling wind not at the same speed as I moved in the land of the mortals but fast enough to count a thousand souls that were hovering around the sea of souls.

Filled with misery, the ferryman moved over the souls of bodies. On the boat sailing was one man's soul, his eyes sunken deeply black and without life. If emotions existed in the underworld I have called it "sad" or whatever I heard the mortals calling it from time to time.

I waited at the bank of the dark sea that was filled with voices of the damned soul, as the ferryman stopped paddling and dropped his anchor which was in the shape of a sickle, he motioned to the man aboard to alight from the boat before dropping the coins for the ferry right into my icily waiting hands, two gold coins that glittered in the darkness.

"I can see this is a rich one, ey?" I asked, knowing It was rare for travelers to pay in gold.

The ferryman gave no reply but motioned with his hands to the bank of the soul port that was filled with skulls and brimstones.

I took a good look at the man that was still in the boat made from fragments of illusion, most travelers had alighted without being told twice to do so. They had then walked with me or one of my most trusted guards to meet my father.

In a brief description, my father was the big guy on top, the one to decide if the soul was to become one of the noisy hoverers or most probably serve as a slave in the dark castle if found lucky.

"Traveler, why don't you want to come aboard ?" I asked in a deep voice that echoed around the dark sea.

The soul looked deep into my eyes with his sunken eyes then I could see it. This was a lost soul and must have roamed to the underworld, He was most probably someone having a near-death experience.

“The Creator gave this one another chance at living," I whispered. "I would have to take him back to the mortals and give him life."

The ferryman nodded his head in understanding. His sack clothes made from fragments of illusion shook gently with the gentle wind.

"Guess you should start paddling, I can see another traveler waiting at the other bank of life ." The ferryman looked for concern.

"Don't worry I would take the traveler back, I would ask one of my guards to wait here at the bank."

On hearing this the ferryman pulled out his anchor and sailed the boat slowly.

Even while standing right in front of the traveler, the hovering souls were very angry and tried to steal the traveler right from my grasp.

I whistled and my unicorn appeared from out of nowhere, straddling the unicorn we both flew away from the sea of souls with the hoverers following us behind and making a lot of whispers and noise in loud protest.

"Be quiet, " I yelled at them. As the unicorn flew out into desolate emptiness.

***

At the palace, I walked through the hallway with guards and other underworld celestial bowers as they walked through.

The traveler cast his gaze downward as it was meant to be. It would be presumptuous for a mere mortal to look upon such a luminous being as myself or any other present as we walked slowly.

"Father!" I called out in my deep voice, my voice ranting around the entire palace with a wave enough to pull down the pillars.

My father had a smile on his face. "Here comes my heir, been looking around the palace for you."

"I got bored and decided to go wait at the bank. " I closed the chain that was around the traveler's neck, the hoverers would never venture into this part of the palace, though their whispers echoed now and then from everywhere around the palace so he had nothing to fear.

Deeping my hands down into my pockets, I brought out the glittering gold coins.

"Gold coins !" Father exclaimed. "This must be a very rich one ."

"I said the same thing father," I said with a smirk.

“You are mine for the taking," His father said as he rubbed his hands together. “I guess he would be good as a slave.”

“He is a favorite of his creator,” I whispered. "I have to take him back as it is not his time yet to sail ."

"Kneel. " I said to the traveler, noticing that he was standing on his feet in the presence of a father.

The traveler lowered his head until his forehead met the ground.

Cronus looked deep into the sunken eyes of the traveler, he was a mere plaything for the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator who had chosen for him to have another chance at life.

Though the traveler was without any right

to self-determination and without an identity for that period of his travel they had to send him back to bring about a balance to the equilibrium of the universe. An equilibrium to life and death. A disruption of such equilibrium is fatal for both worlds as the thin walls between the two realms would be broken.

"Alright do well to take the Traveler back. " Father ordered. I bowed slightly before binding the traveler around his neck with the metal chain.

"Azrael !" Father called as I was about to leave. "Do well to be wary of Black, you know how mischievous he can be ."

"Very well, father ." I bowed again leading the traveler out.

l was the only immortal apart from his father aware of the back portal out of the underworld, so I was wary of prying eyes anytime I traveled down to the human world.

Peering eyes lurked in the dark, he had been watching his brother travel out of the underworld a lot of times and just needed an opportunity to slip out of the portal, an opportunity just like the one presenting himself.

Black tossed a coin at the Slave soul that had brought the news to him that his brother would be transiting.

"You can leave it to me," Black whispered to the Soul.

The soul bowed with its sunken eyes, he made sure the soul was out of reach before following his brother closely.

Hiding his scent as he walked behind me.

Black watched his brother's sleek move with a sinister smile on his face.

"This is my time brother." He thought in his mind.

The portal to the mortal realm whirled in a sparking-colored lucid light as I slipped through, for a minute my intuition whispered to me as I perceived the air for the scent of hoverers but not for my brother.